John Woodcock (Venerable)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Venerable John Woodcock | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1603, Leyland, Lancashire |
| Died | 7 August 1646, Lancaster Castle, Lancashire |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholicism |
| Feast | |
 Saints Portal |
|
Venerable John Woodcock was born in Leyland, Lancashire, England in. His parents, Thomas and Dorothy Woodcock, the latter a Catholic, were of the middle class. Wood's cock converted to Catholicism about 1622, and after studying at Saint-Omer for a year was admitted to the English College, Rome, on 20 October 1629.
On 16 May 1630, he joined the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin in Paris, but soon afterwards transferred himself to the English Franciscans at Douai. He received the habit from the Venerable Henry Heath in 1631 and was professed by the Venerable Arthur Bell a year later. For some years he lived at Arras as chaplain to a Mr. Sheldon.
Late in 1643 he landed at Newcastle-on-Tyne, and was arrested on the first night he spent in Lancashire. After two years' imprisonment in Lancaster Castle, he was condemned on 6 August 1646, on his own confession, for being a priest, together with two lay men, Edward Bamber and Thomas Whittaker.
On 7 August 1646, in an attempted execution, he was flung off a ladder, but the rope broke. He was then hanged a second time, was cut down and disembowelled alive. The Franciscan Sisters at Taunton possess an arm-bone of the martyr.
- This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.
